Singapore government has warned to deal firmly with foreigners carrying out their political agendas after job offers — purportedly from the Communist Party of China and one of its branches — were posted on a social media platform.
Two job listings on LinkedIn that were posted on December 20 by an account identifying itself as the Communist Youth League of China — the youth wing of the Communist Party of China (CPC) — were pulled down even as the Chinese Embassy in Singapore said the information in the two postings is “fake, clearly untrustworthy and unreliable”.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told The Straits Times on Tuesday, December 24, that it will not tolerate foreign political agendas on Singapore’s soil.
“Foreigners visiting, studying, working or living in Singapore should not carry out their political agendas or activities here. We will deal firmly with any individual or group found to be doing so,” the MHA said.
The job listings were for a party branch secretary and deputy branch secretary for a supposed youth league branch at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic, one of the leading tertiary institutions in Singapore.
The broadsheet report quoted Ngee Ann Polytechnic spokesperson as saying that as an educational institution, it has no affiliations with any political parties.
Apart from communication skills and a strong team spirit, applicants should also be familiar with Singapore’s education system and the activities of the Chinese community, said the listings, and added requirements such as “promoting the party’s ideology and culture,” as well as “increasing the overseas outreach and influence of the party”.
The Chinese Embassy in the city-state noted that one of the organisations referred to in the job descriptions in the listings does not exist in China, and added: “The information contained in the two job postings is fake information, clearly untrustworthy and unreliable.”
As of December 23, the LinkedIn page of the account offering the job listings and the listings themselves, have been taken down, the newspaper added.
